


I'm Just Trying To Love You

by Ness09



Series: Stozier One-Shots [2]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, little angsty but mostly just idiots in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 03:44:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13045794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ness09/pseuds/Ness09
Summary: When Stan starts ignoring Richie, he takes matters into his own hands and drags him to the beach





	I'm Just Trying To Love You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of the Perfect Amount of Richie kind of, but you don't have to read that first. 
> 
> Just something short inspired by Seaside by The Kooks
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @itchierichie

The car rolled to a stop with a good view of the grey waves rolling towards the shore. Richie gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, waiting for Stan’s reaction. He’d given him the silent treatment for the past half hour after his protests hadn’t done anything to persuade Richie to turn the car around.

“The beach?”, Stan said. “You brought me to the beach in the middle of October?”

“That way there are less people.”

“And you couldn’t just have asked?”

Maybe he could’ve done this in a better way. He’d told Stan they’d go and pick up snacks and meet their friends at Ben’s, but there had never been any snacks or any friends waiting for them for that matter.

“Would you have come if I’d asked?”

He turned to look at him, but Stan didn’t meet his eyes. Richie didn’t know what happened. A little over a month ago, Stan had told him he was beautiful and they had a pretty good make-out session in his room and now he had to practically kidnap his boyfriend to spend time with him. They’d agreed to keep their relationship a secret, which Richie thought was dumb, but if it was what Stan wanted, he’d do it. Well, he’d told Bev, but he told Bev everything so that surely didn’t count, right?

Lately Stan always found a reason not to be alone with Richie and as soon as even one Loser was present, there was a strict no touching rule. Also Stan’s idea.

Stan opened the door. “And what do you want to do at the beach when the weather is shit? If you think I’m going swimming and risk hypothermia, you’re mistaken.”

“You sound like Eddie”, Richie said, as he jumped out of the car.

Stan wasn’t completely wrong, though. The sky was a thick grey mass of clouds, a strong wind blew sand and the taste of salt into their faces and crept under their jackets, making them shiver already.

“Sometimes he’s right, you know.”

“Relax, Stan, we’re not going swimming.”

He stepped around the hood of the car, fully determined to hold Stan’s hand, only to find he had pushed them deep into his pockets. He could of course just pull one free and make him, but considering Stan was already pretty mad at him for dragging him out here, it might not be the best idea to annoy him even more.

However, it was unacceptable that they were finally alone and he didn’t get to touch Stan, so he threw an arm around his shoulders and gently lead him towards the shore.

“Aren’t the others going to worry?”

Richie ignored the question, not feeling like admitting he lied about that too. “You know, there are lots of other things to do at the beach.”

“Like?” Stan arched an eyebrow at him and it took everything in Richie not to kiss his stupid face. He didn’t know if that’s still something they did or if Stan had already gotten tired of him.

He plastered a huge smile onto his face. “You could build a sandcastle. Some people like to take walks here too. Maybe you’d like to watch the sea gulls, or… we could go pick up some sea shells for you.”

“Sea shells?”, Stan repeated, but Richie saw the realization on his face.

He’d told him once that he really liked sea shells and that he wanted some to decorate his room, but it didn’t count if you bought them, you had to get them yourself straight from the beach. Not that Stan was particularly fond of the beach, too much sand, too many people, so he’d never gotten them until now.

“Yeah, come on!” Richie beamed at him, decided _Fuck it! I’m going to kiss him_ and pressed his lips to Stan’s cheek, then took off running. “Race you to the shore!”

The wind was so loud in his ears that he barely heard Stan’s protest about him having a head start. He laughed all the way down to the water, stumbling in the sand and almost falling, but he managed to keep his balance. Or he would have, if Stan hadn’t used it to his advantage and shoved him, making both boys land in a heap in the cold sand.

Richie was about to complain, when he realized Stan was lying on his chest, his face only inches away and he was laughing. God damn, how was he so cute even with the wind blowing the curls into his face and covered in sand? Honestly it only added to the cuteness.

“Now who’s cheating, Stanley?”

Stan reached out and fixed his glasses that had almost fallen off his nose during the tumble, then he brushed Richie’s hair out of his face, his fingers leaving warm traces on his skin.

“It’s astonishing you manage to be so beautiful while covered in sand”, he said.

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“I’d say great minds think alike, but…”

“Stan! We were having a moment!”

He grinned down at him. Was this why he was ignoring him? Did Stan think he was too stupid? Too loud? Too annoying? Too much Richie? They’d been teasing each other like this forever and he’d never worried if Stan meant any of it, but that was before he’d fallen in love with him.

Stan lifted his head to look at the sea and when he met Richie’s eyes again, the smile was gone. “You didn’t bring me here just for the sea shells, did you?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry.”

He sat up, making Richie whine at the loss of body heat. When it became clear that Stan wasn’t going to lie down with him again, he got up too.

“Don’t you…”, he started, gesturing between them. “Don’t you want to do this anymore?”

He tried to be okay with that, he really did, but in all honesty, Richie didn’t know what he’d do, if Stan wanted to end whatever it was that they had going on.

Stan snorted. “I thought you didn’t.”

“What?” Why would he think such a stupid thing? He’d waited forever to get a sign from Stan that he liked him too. Sometimes he’d thought he did and then Stan would go back to their usual banter and it confused him immensely.

Well, the good news was that both of them still wanted this, they were just being idiots. Richie chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Stan’s middle and rested his chin on his shoulder. “I’m just trying to love you”, he said, just loud enough to be heard above the wind. “Maybe you should let me.”

Stan turned his head to catch his lips in a soft kiss, but it had been so long, Richie couldn’t just stop. He chased Stan’s lips as he pulled away, licking hungrily into his mouth and Stan kissed back so fiercely it almost made up for the lost time.

When they finally parted, they were both out of breath.

“That was so cheesy”, Stan said giggling.

“I know and it totally worked.” Richie winked at him. “You’re such a softy.”

“I’m also an idiot! I didn’t want to be alone with you, because I thought you were going to break up with me. I’m so sorry.”

Richie kissed the tip of his nose. “You really are an idiot. Why would you think that?”

“Because… it’s stupid. Just forget it!”

Yeah right, as if he was just going to let it slide. If he’d done anything to make Stan doubt his feelings for him, he needed to know and change that. He was not going to miss out on spending quality time with him again just because he did something stupid or Stan could be a little stupid… probably both.

“I will not!”

Stan sighed, burying his face in his hands. “Because you were flirting with Eddie and… well, I thought maybe you weren’t really serious about the whole thing.”

“I always flirt with Eddie and the others.”

“I know, I just… it made me think I was no different and you were just having a bit of fun.”

“You are very different, but we said we were keeping it a secret so…” He wasn’t sure if he could promise to stop the flirting. By now it had become such a normal thing to do, but he needed Stan to know that he was serious about him. “I mean it. I love you.”

Stan’s fingers were in his hair, pulling him down to meet him in another kiss. “I love you too.”

They sat like this for a while, cold and covered in sand, but still completely happy in each other’s company. But as content as Richie was just sitting here and holding his boyfriend, he wasn’t joking about the sea shells and they still had a job to do before they got too cold to move.

He untangled himself from Stan and got up, holding a hand out to help him up. “Well that was gay”, he said. Stan took his hand, rolling his eyes. “Now let’s go look for your sea shells.”

“And how is that any less gay?”

“I didn’t say it was. Looking for sea shells with your boyfriend to decorate said boyfriend’s room is very gay.”

It pleased Richie how Stan’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink every time he said boyfriend. As soon as they had brushed the sand of their clothes, Richie took Stan’s hand again, intertwining their fingers. They had a lot of touching and kissing to catch up on.

“Are you coming, boyfriend?”


End file.
